Mind-Flip Friday

[stratofarius]

A simple switch of roles, that's all it is. Some would say it would also be a switch of types, a switch of lives. So how would the present be if things changed... a little?

---------------------------------------

"So why exactly are we here, Aang?" Sokka asked, sitting on the audience seats of the Earth Rumble stadium.

"We need to find an Earthbending teacher for me." Aang said, looking excitedly at the arena. "What better place to find one than an earthbending contest?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the Blind Bandit!"

In any other occasion, a small, twelve year old blind girl would step out. But what if a small, twelve year blind boy stepped out? What if things changed... a little?

A few hours later...

"So let me get this straight." the blind boy said, as the scenery changed. He was now standing outside the Bei Fong estate, wearing royal clothes, and surrounding him were the members of the Avatar's group. "You want me to be your Earthbending teacher?"

Aang nodded. "I need to master the elements, and the way you earthbended back at the stadium was amazing!"

"Plus, he saw you on some freaky dream induced by a living swamp." Sokka added.

Aang bowed. "Please, accept me as your student, Sifu...?"

"August." The boy replied. "August Bei Fong."

------------------------------------------

"We need to establish a chain of command." Michael said, walking in circles on the bridge of the Ha'tak. "Viktor, you're the Captain, and I'm the second-in-command, and..."

At this point, he would turn and talk to a seventeen year old boy with a cane and a strange power concerning metals. But this time, it wasn't a boy, but rather a girl.

"And a third-in-command, in case anything happens to you two." The girl said, playing with her cane. "My name is Toph Lim, by the way. Pleasure to meet all of you."

A few months later...

"Nanabey... Toph..." Kios said, sitting on the forest in Hibiki's World, and speaking to Nanabey in a human body and a 8 year old Toph. "Could you please give me the honor... of becoming your father?"

"Kios-papa!" Nanabey said, running forwards to glomp her new dad. But for Toph, it took an extra minute. Was she ready for a new family?... You know what, she was. She was damn ready. She had a new family and nothing was going to change.

"Father!" she said, hugging Kios. She had a family now, and nothing was going to change...

-------------------------------------------

20 years later...

Toph groaned, slowly waking up. Why was everything... bouncing? Oh great, did she fall off her bed? Humph. Well, it didn't matter, she had another day as Chief of the Republic City Police Force ahead of her. And what better way to start than by opening her eyes and seeing the colors.

Wait. The colors.

She could... see again. This wasn't a new experience to Toph- she remembered obtaining the ability to see and control her brother's scythe form many years ago- but still, why could she see again? And her entire body felt different. She wasn't wearing the clothes she went to sleep with. She was wearing a trenchcoat, and fingerless gloves, and shoes and... and her seismic sense was gone once again. Which probably meant she couldn't earthbend. Ah... damn. What in the world was going on?

Toph reached for her hair. It was shorter for some reason, and she wasn't wearing a tiara. On her back, she could feel something else. Metal. Wait. How can I feel metal... but not the earth? Everything felt different. She reached for her back, and found the metal she was sensing- swords. Lots and lots of swords. Something activated on Toph's heart, like a voice singing a sweet song. The moment she touched these swords, she felt safe, like the metal was talking to them. And for a moment, she didn't seem to care about the fact that her clothes had changed, that she could see again, that she couldn't earthbend, and that she was sitting cross-legged on a carriage with a small boy sleeping near her.

Wait. Small boy. Small... boy dressed as a girl. "Dollstop?" she said. Great, her voice was still the same. Why was she in a carriage with Dollstop? Why could she see again? And what happened to her seismic sense? All these questions puzzled Toph's mind, and she crawled over to the other side of the carriage, knocking on a small window.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her voice still a bit weak.

"Yeah?" replied a voice coming from the front of a carriage.

"Where are we?"

"I thought I told you. We're on the road to Republic City, girl. There's still a few hours left on this trip, so relax."

For the first time in the day, Toph began to panic. She had suddenly teleported from her bed to a carriage going to Republic City, Dollstop was somehow with her, and her earthbending abilities were gone. The same panic from that time back at the Halloween Party filled her. I can't bend anymore. Even with the sweet songs coming from the swords, she couldn't calm down. What was going her? What happened to her? Why was she like that?

[dblade26]

August woke up...or, thought he woke up. But why was everything so dark? The inside of the carriage was better lit than that, and his eyes were open. Unless...

"I'm blind?!"

The familiar sway of the carriage was missing too and it felt like he was on a bed, so not only was he blind, he was also most likely in a completely different place.

"Okay...okay....don't panic...just have to figure out what's going on."

As he sat up, he felt vibrations going out across the room from even that small motion, tracing a mental picture of the area. He was apparently not alone, with what looked like a...monkey...of some kind in the room with him, but no sign of Dollstop anywhere in the room, which was odd considering his apprentice's "secret" cuddlebug tendencies.

"hmm...my voice is the same, so not exactly a body switch, but I'm blind, there's no Dollstop and I'm wearing traditional clothing. I'm also unable to sense metal or go into analysis mode, so no Achilles but I have Sis's blindsense. Makes figuring this out a looot worse."

---

Dollstop twitched sleepily as Toph moved around in the carriage and spoke to the driver. The sudden motion and sound she made began nudging the small boy half-awake and prodding him towards consciousness.

He had been lulled to sleep by the rocking motion of the horse-carriage a short time after they had set out for Republic City, though Toph seemed to have no way of knowing that, considering the bizzare circumstances they were in.

The apprentice Traveler crawled over to Toph from across the carriage seats with his eyes half-closed and his head swaying drowsily. He snuggled up against Toph and tucked himself in under her arm, listening to the reassuring sound of her heartbeat like he often did with August.

"nnh...Are we in Republic City yet Boss Momma?"

If Toph didn't suspect something was off before, she probably would now.

[Krautman]

The 6-year old Kun walked up the stairs with a clipboard and glomped August.

"Mornin' bigger brother! When are we goin' to work?"

[dblade26]

"Work?" August was clearly confused, if happy to see his littlest sister, patting her affectionately on the head. He noticed that the seismic sense wasn't good at facial details unless he felt for them very carefully, but Kun's voice was familiar enough that he didn't have to.

So...I must be at mom and dad's house...and I guess I have a job that Kun helps me at? I guess I've been blind a long time

"Um, Kun, remind me what we're supposed to do today at work."

August picked his sister up and carried her down the stairs, feeling his way down veeery carefully but trying his best not to act in a way that might seem unusual and scare Kun.

He hoped that something the little girl said would help him figure out what his job was and how he'd wound up in this situation.

[Krautman]

Kun continued hugging August and whistled, and a tremendous wolf-like creature padded alongside them, panting.

"Well, some guys ended up 'n the drunk tank an' someone made a bunch a' reports we need to look over an' then there are a bunch a' witnesses to this burglary that happened over on Dragon Lane..."

[stratofarius]

"Boss Momma?!"

The friendly figure of Dollstop managed to calm Toph down a bit, however, it only raised even more questions. What was she doing there with him? And why did he call her Boss? More importantly, why did he call her Momma?! "What are you talking about, Dollstop?" Toph said, awkwardly placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Why am I here? Where's Blabberbrother? Why isn't him with you?"

I need to get back to Republic City, now. She stood up, and reached for one of the multiple swords attached to her back. Once she touched the hilt of the sword, the sweet song returned to her head, and she could feel the sword talking with her. However, at the same time, the song began to bring back memories. Memories of her training and training with the sword. It felt like, out of nowhere, Toph had become a master in swordsmanship. But most importantly, it brought out strange weird memories on her head.

She saw herself, as a seventeen year old girl, standing on the Ha'tak. Then she saw herself again, this time on the middle of a town, fighting an older man who seemed to have a constant smirk on his face. Another memory, this one of her being turned into a 8-year old girl by a creepy girl with a mask- Pineapple Freak's mask- and then, one of her being adopted by a lizardman. She felt a twinge of sadness pop up in sync with that memory. Countless other memories followed, but one of the most important was of her, a 8-year old girl, on the beach with a 14-year old blind boy.

Blabberbrother.

And then she saw more images. Images of her brother earthbending, of her holding various different swords and fighting faceless enemies, of his brother turning into a blonde boy wearing a suit, and of her turning into a girl wearing school uniform that could turn into a scythe. Toph looked at her hand, and almost gasped when it turned into a blade. She could do that? It seemed that somehow, she got Blabberbrother's abilities... that could be the only reason why she felt like locking herself on a room with only her swords around her.

"Dollstop. Tell me... what... what exactly do we do everyday?" Toph asked, trying to make the question seem like a "cheerful way to start the day".

[dblade26]

So, that meant August was the police chief, judging by that list of criminal related activities. If he was the police chief, that must mean that Toph obviously was not.

He was also blind and wearing different clothing, and judging by the way everything got mapped out with each step and sound, he had Toph's abilities as well. But he definitely wasn't Toph so this wasn't a body swap...exactly. It was too hard to figure this out without Achilles to help him focus his thoughts and clear his head.

"Well, we'd better get to work then, huh Mei Mei?"

August put a hand on Spot, hoping that he'd been trained as some kind of seeing-eye Pokemon, and set out towards the police station. Hopefully, he could start figuring this out and keep the Republic City Police running at the same time.

---

"H-Huh!?"

Dollstop blinked awake and sat up, trying to pretend he had been doing something other than cuddling with Toph now that he was fully conscious. He was also startled by Toph's sudden questions, but seemed sort of used to being randomly quizzed, taking it in stride.

"Uncle Augie is in Republic City? With the police station? We're going there in this carriage to visit him, you said."

Dollstop looked out the window and noticed they weren't there yet, and continued speaking, nervous more than a little confused and still a little sleepy. He tried to work out why Toph was suddenly asking him all these questions while still keeping the right answers in mind.

"We...travel the Multiverse, helping the helpless and doing heroic stuff, sometimes for money. What else would we do Boss M- I mean, um, Boss?"

the boy looked away for a second and gritted his teeth, convinced that his earlier slip up was why he was being questioned now.

"Anyway, are you sure you're feeling okay? You've been really weird since you woke up."

[Krautman]

Kun giggled and continued hugging her brother as Spot slowed at the stairs and street corners. They made pretty good time to the station, all things considered.

"Do you need me to read anything today, Augie?"

[stratofarius]

The station was already filled with people, even if this was just the beginning of the day. On one side of the lobby, officers observed various boards with maps of Republic City, and some were sitting near phones, receiving reports through them by the minute. On the other side, civillians were reporting certain facts to the officers- in fact, he heard a woman say "my purse was just stolen on Torment Lane"- who immediately turned those reports into written reports, which got sent right over to the main area of the Police station: a big table, where officers stood talking with other civillians, those that wanted or needed to get in the deeper areas of the station. That table also blocked access to said deeper areas of the station, and behind it there were a couple of doors, some leading to the Recreation Rooms, some to the Prison and some to the Interrogation Rooms.

"Oh! Chief Bei Fong!" said a man who appeared to be in his 20's and who was already decked in armor similar to the one August wore- but missing a few details, like the Police Chief badge. He already had a tired expression, but did his best to seem happy, even as he saluted his superior. "Good morning, sir. We've got one big day ahead of us."

"I'm afraid this man is right." said another voice, this one a more familiar one. Sokka, wearing his Councilman outfit, approached August with a smile, a book under his arm and a friendly wave. However, once he got near August, he immediately slung an arm around August's shoulder, like he was one of Sokka's best friends- which, in this weird universe, he was. Back in his original universe, August wasn't really Sokka's best friend- they talked, oh, sure, but they were never really seen as friends. "So, Chief"- he said, proudly showing his usual friendly smirk- "I was on my way to the Council and I decided to make a little stop here, give you a few warnings. We're looking over the Red Triads case, and that guy you caught a couple of weeks ago is going on trial this afternoon for the usual crimes. We've also been getting unusually weird reports of a---" It was at this point that he noticed Kun, and he crouched down, patting her on the head. "Oh, I see you brought your sister to work- figures, seeing  as the Noelles are in town for a few weeks. How are you doing, Kun?"

-------------------------------

So I have Brother's abilities, his job, his apprentice... and a female version of his clothes. She thought to herself, sitting down cross-legged. "Uh? No, everything's fine, Dollstop." she said, crossing her arms, and doing her best to smile. Apart from the fact that this isn't my life. She looked out of the window and could already see the usual shops of Republic City. Standing up with a grin, she knocked on the carriage's wall, the one dividing the front and the back. "Hey, old man, thanks for the ride."

"Don't mention i--old man?"

Toph gave a signal to Dollstop and jumped out of the carriage, landing on the street without any problems. "Come on, Dollstop! Don't lag behind!"she said, walking towards the police station.

[Krautman]

Kun jumped up and hugged Sokka with a childish smile.

"I'm fine, Mr. Sokka! I'm gonna help Augie today!"

At this point, Spot picked her up by her shirt and tossed the young girl on his back, eliciting a giggle from Kun as she petted the Arcanine.

[dblade26]

August flashed a smile at Kun as he tried his best to sort out what Sokka was telling him. He was unused to being in any position of authority except with individual clients and feeling slightly overwhelmed by how many people were suddenly obviously depending on him as Republic City's Police Chief. Sokka's sudden close friendship with him wasn't helping him feel any less confused about the life he suddenly occupied either.

The Red Triads were probably some sort of dangerous criminal organization that the city had been having long term problems with, so obviously as the Chief of Police he was responsible for dealing with them and stopping their activities. If that was true, it was probably good that they were looking over the case again as it would be easier for him to catch up on the details. The fact that Sokka had mentioned a specific criminal was going on trial today seemed like something pretty important if it was a matter the councilman's bothered to mention personally, even if he'd dismissed it as "the usual crimes". Obviously August was very involved in the day-to-day running of Republic City's police force, so he'd have to be very careful about how he asked questions and make sure to look like he knew what was going on.

"So, are there any new developments with the Red Triads, then?" He tried to make the question seem insignificant and tried to look casually confident "Also, how does the case against that man look like it's going to go? You suppose they'll convict him? More importantly reports of a strange what? Not another weird musical act right? You know how much I hate those."

He hoped that the answers to his questions would give him more than enough information to start dealing with the day's work even if it didn't get him any closer to figuring out how he'd woken up in a completely different life.

---

Normally Dollstop would've been apologizing to the carriage driver for his Master's careless insults, but instead he just jumped out of the still moving carriage after Toph, landing on the street with just a little more difficulty.

"Ha! Bet you'll be eating my dust instead Boss!" He stuck his tongue out at Toph and rolled his eyes before trying to run ahead of her toward the police station. As he ran in front of Toph it became obvious for the first time that he wasn't wearing any shoes, and if she stopped to think about it she might notice that the boy's hair, face and clothing were messy and smudged with dirt and dust despite Dollstop usually being sort of a neat freak even while traveling.

[stratofarius]

Sokka's smile disappeared for a moment as he absorbed all of the questions August just asked him. Apparently, the August he knew didn't talk like the August that was in front of him. "W-weird musical acts? Uh, no, there's nothing on the theater, and the Ember Island Players are... well... on Ember Island, considering that last time they performed here that little..." he chuckled, "accident happened."

He gave Kun a pat in the hand and pulled out a folder he had been holding under his arm. "Yeah, they'll convict him, alright. Don't you remember? You caught him in the middle of the act. He'll probably be convincted for robbery, extortion, gang activities, the usual thing... he'll probably get eight years, unless he tells us something about the leaders of the Red Triads."

"Oh, yes, the Red Triads." said the officer that had welcomed August to the station. "Chief, me and a squad of metalbenders entered the location we were given yesterday, and there were no signs of Red Triads there."

"Which means we have no leads on them... again." Sokka sighed.

"To be fair, sir, this is hardly Council material. The Red Triads have been the Police Force's problem since the beginning of Republic City."

"I'm a pretty hands-on Council member. The others may not care about that much about the security of the people of Republic City, but I do." Sokka said, his smile replaced by a much more serious expression. "Oh yes, and the unusal reports. Apparently, there's another gang in Republic City, but this one is waterbenders only. They call themselves the Triple Monsoons, and they have been invading homes and other small places. The worst part about it? Once they leave, they literally freeze the entire place."

"These gangs just keep getting weirder and weirder." the officer commented under his breath.

"Which is why I came here to inform you about it, August." Sokka said, once again smiling. "Speaking of weird, wasn't your sister supposed to visit you today? That weird one that loves swords?"

------------------------------------------------

"... Dollstop..." Toph said, watching the boy run in front of him. There was something weird about that scene- and it wasn't how weird the kid looked. Whenever Toph looked at the boy, she felt something in her heart. Some weird, warm feeling. Brushing that off, she followed him until she was suddenly stopped by someone grabbing her by the back of her shirt. Turning around, she found out that she was now in the middle of an alley, surrounded by a couple of thugs, all of them wearing expensive clothes and bearing smug grins on their faces.

One of them walked forward, approaching Toph, who simply stared at them. "What's up with the swords, darlin'? You goin' somewhere special?"

"Stay away from me, or I'll be sticking one of these up your nose." she said, her expression not changing one bit.

"Oh, so you like to fight bac', now don' ya?" the thug leader said, and a ball of fire appeared on his hand. "Let's see how well you fight back when yer toast."

Toph simply smirked and raised her hand, placing it by her side. She wasn't going to attack them, no. Instead, she was going to wait for Dollstop to show up (for some reason, she knew he would show up). She knew the boy would grab her by her hand. She wanted to test something: she wanted to feel what it was like to turn into a sword.

[OOC: So, yeah, just a bridge for Dollstop to grab Toph as she turns into a sword and have fun.]

[dblade26]

August gave a frustrated sigh and considered his options

"Well, has he officially rejected all of the offers presented to him? Reduced sentencing, witness protection even rewards? He's the closest thing we have to a lead, so if there's some tactic we haven't tried to get his cooperation I want it served up to him on a silver platter or sent to haunt him straight from the Spirit World, whatever it takes to get him to provide us the information we need. The arrest of a single man, no matter how evil, is nothing compared to taking down the..." the Police Chief stopped in thought for a moment as he noticed Kun was still there "The bad guys threatening my city, do I make myself clear?"

He rubbed at his temples, considering the other problems

"Now, as for these Triple Monsoons, we've already figured out what it is they do if not why. So, I want you to try and secure the cooperation of civilians in setting up sting operations. I want teams of metalbenders undercover in the sections of the city they've been hitting hardest. When they break in, we'll snatch them up. Increasing regular patrols in those areas can't hurt much either. Are there any details you haven't mentioned yet?"

---

Dollstop turned around once he noticed Toph wasn't following him and started quickly retracing his steps as if he were used to this happening on a pretty regular basis.

"Boss!....Boss!....where'd you go!?...."

Eventually he came across the alley and the gangsters. He ducked underneath them and was by Toph's side before they could react, though who knew how they would react at what looked like a silver-haired girl suddenly confronting an alley full of thugs.

The expression on the boy's face was full of sadistic, barely restrained joy. His eyes had gone wide and lit up, and even his teeth seemed sharper than they should be, almost shark like. As he grabbed Toph's hand she might be able to feel his Soul Wavelength as a familiar presence along with the same warm feeling she had felt earlier now emanating from him. But tangled up with it was a harsher more violent feeling that wasn't normally there.

"Hey...Mama....can I dissect these guys?...I want to dissect them!!!"

[stratofarius]

Once Toph began to feel Dollstop's soul wavelength, something changed in the woman that stood beside the boy. For a moment, it seemed like her personality had completely changed. She grinned for the first time in the day, proudly displaying her sharp shark-like teeth. Her eyes had narrowed, almost like a bird finding its prey. Once Dollstop grabbed Toph's hand, a flash of light covered her as she transformed into a sword, quite similar to how August looked in sword form, but with only two green eyes on the hilt.

"Go easy on them... for now." she said, not even surprised that she now found herself in the "weapon mode" August always talked about. For a moment, the thought of "what's going on and why am I enjoying this" appeared in her mind, but it was quickly silenced by the tune of Dollstop's soul wavelength.

"What tha?... What tha hell was that?!" the thug leader said, taking a step back, completely scared. The others began to do the same, and one of them even ran away, yelling "POLICE! SOMEONE! HELP!".

--------------------------------------

As the officer nodded, saluted August and walked away to obey his orders, Sokka shook his head. "No. These guys got some really loyal members. We offered everything, and he just said no... gah, I'm going to be late for the Council meeting."

He gave August a pat in the back. "Good luck today, buddy. And, hey, if your sister pops out- the one that walks around with a boy- give me a call. I've been wanting to talk with her for quite a while!" He chuckled and began to walk out of the room.

[dblade26]

"Sure thing!" August grinned at Sokka, then immediately resumed frowning as the Councilman left the police station. It seemed that things weren't going well at all, even if Republic City wasn't in a state of obvious chaos.

Clearly he had been having a lot of difficulty with these different Triad groups and gangs, and he wasn't about to make very much progress. Not in a positive direction anyway, even if it wasn't all futile. Sokka's comments about Toph were interesting too. Could it be that in this world, he had some kind of romantic interest in her?

That would be something to consider later. "Ah, right...well, let's get to work then, since today's workload is obviously piling up already. Kun, please read those files for me..."

---

Dollstop frowned as Toph told him to take it easy on their would be assailants, but was back to maniacally grinning after just a few seconds. "Tch no fair. They seem like really gross bad guys, n' I was really looking forward to cutting and slicing and experimenting until I went all tingly and numb inside, n' maybe even finding out what organs let 'em bend!!!! But if Mama says so, 'guess I can just have some fun beating them all up instead!"

Dollstop jumped up surprisingly high in the air and brought the flat of the arming sword down onto the head of the nearest gang member with a metallic thunk, causing the man's teeth to crack together as he slumped unconscious.

The sadistically grinning boy stopped only to kick the fallen man in the face before swinging the sword around to impact one of the other muggers in the side of the knee hard enough to make him fall to one knee then take advantage of the thug's vulnerability to slam his palm into the thug and use Soul Breaker on him to knock him out. He planted Toph into the ground contemptuously as the remaining criminals ran.

"Meh. I really wanted to play with them more. Maybe...someone in the crowd out there will be more fun?!"

[stratofarius]

Once Dollstop planted Toph on the ground, the woman returned back to her human form, and her grin immediately disappeared. As she looked at the knocked out thugs and at her own hands, only one thing went through her mind. "What... what was that feeling?... For a moment, I felt like I wasn't in control of my--"

Toph never really had a time to finish her sentence as a metal cable wrapped itself around her body, restraining her movement. The same thing happened to Dollstop, and the two could clearly see metalbending officers walking towards them, ready to take them to the police station. A smile appeared in Toph's face. "Don't react." she whispered to Dollstop. "This will be our... surprise for Blabberbrother." Plus, I need to ask him what just happened... and how I can make sure it won't happen again.

-------------------------------

An hour or so later, August was sitting on his desk, and right by his side, in a smaller chair, was Kun, reading to him the reports on current illegal activities in the Republic City slums. The girl's reading was interrupted as an officer entered the room, saying they caught a woman and a kid that had just attacked a group of thugs in an alley- and that he should interrogate them, since they weren't saying a word to any of the officers.

As the doors of the interrogation room opened, August and Kun could clearly see Toph and Dollstop, both sitting on different chairs, their hands shackled. All of Toph's swords were in a cabinet on the other side of the room, and the woman had a vacant stare on her face, almost as if she was lost in her thoughts.

"Again?" she said, her expression the same. "We already told you: we won't talk about what happened."

[dblade26]

August raised an eyebrow at his sister's voice and smirked as he entered the interrogation room. However, his expression clearly switched to one of intense, frown-filled disappointment as he noticed that Dollstop was also present and tied to a chair.

Dollstop on the other hand had managed to slide his chair across the interrogation room's floor in order to be much, much closer to Toph and was now leaning against her as much as he could while tied up, eyes closed, shivering and whimpering occasionally. The momentary sadistic insanity of Stein's Madness Wavelength had worn off and he was feeling more than a little scared and bothered by the experience.

"So, you've got my life and i've got your life. I'm guessing you probably don't have any ideas as to why either." August found it odd that the sight of Dollstop in that state of mind didn't immediately make him want to comfort the boy but decided that was probably a side effect of not having raised him in this timeline.

"Anyway, the police are taking credit for those thugs you beat down and you're being released, seeing as we're in kind of bad shape already." August undid the metal bindings with a few quick movements, freeing both Toph and her apprentice. Dollstop seemed too scared to notice, or understand what August had said.

"So, anything else you need to tell me? Now would be a pretty good time since the room's soundproofed."

[stratofarius]

Toph smirked back at August, flexing her hands. "First of all, I need to get some better shackles for the Police Force. I've already been messing with these for the past hour. Your metalbending is ... weird, Blabberbrother."

Her expression changed to a more serious one, almost as if she was mimicking August's emotionless moments. "What made us change lives? No, a better question... who made us change lives?... and... and I need to talk to you about... him." She said, quickly glancing at Dollstop. "Listen, Blabberbrother, I've already turned into a sword and it doesn't feel right. It feels like I'm not in control of myself. Like I'm slowly going... mad..."

She shook her head. "Right now, we also need to figure out a way to get back. I suppose no one else noticed the switch, right? For some reason, I have memories of meeting people like Hot Stuff and..." she trailed off, mouthing the word "father" before looking at August with a frown. "... and you. I have memories of meeting you. You're... blind, aren't you?"

[dblade26]

August frowned, at the reminder of his past and his current blindness though his tone was light and joking.

"Yup, I'm blind as a badger-mole, I have been since the day I was born apparently." August waved a hand in front of his face to demonstrate "The seismic sense helps though. I'm pretty sure I have your memories too. Also, unless everyone's been playing a really weird practical joke on me all day and Dollstop thinks you're me, I don't think anyone noticed the switch."

He glanced at Dollstop again, then frowned and leaned against the interrogation room wall, sighing in frustration at the craziness of the situation and the child's emotional state.

"Right, since I have no idea how we fix the switch yet we should probably try and deal with this situation with you and him both going crazy. So, this started when you transformed into a weapon?"

August had some experience with what he thought Toph must be describing, but he had no idea what things had changed in this weird life-switch.

[stratofarius]

"... yes. It feels... awful. Like somehow... I don't want to say this, but like Dollstop was influencing me. I may sound like I'm saying some mumbo jumbo here, but listen to me: it was like I was losing my head just by being near him." Toph said, and she quickly glanced at Dollstop. "No offense."

She remained in silence, and frowned. "Also, Blabberbrother... I know about... him. About Kios. And... it feels like he was my father too. I know these memories are not mine, but they feel real. And the pain I get from remembering them feels real too. Is that what you feel every single day?"

[dblade26]

"Well yeah, I feel that pain all the time. It's part of losing someone close to you I think, especially a father, even if Kios wasn't always a good one" A flash of pain went across August's face as he mentioned his second father but it was quickly replaced with a smile "On the other hand, you can also remember the good memories you have of him, and sometimes that lessens the pain a little."

He turned his thoughts to the problem of Dollstop's madness, and how it had affected Toph in the alley, though he noticed that the boy's whimpering sobs were starting to quiet down.

"I don't think you need to worry about offending him..he seems kind of out of it. Anyway, you're Doll's Weapon and he's your Meister. In order for both of your powers to work to their fullest, you have to share a special connection between your Souls, like we used to. Dollstop has...a Madness that affects him sometimes, makes him want to slice things up and hurt things. If it gets strong enough, it can affect you too."

"But that connection goes both ways. If you reach out to him, you can suppress the Madness or pull him out of it, calm him down sort of. I'm not exactly sure how it'll work for you, since he's your Dollstop."

He wasn't the same Dollstop that much was clear just by looking at the kid. August wondered how different Toph and this Dollstop's relationship was to himself and the Dollstop back home. There must have been some strong emotion between them, if Toph had still adopted the boy or apprenticed him, but he was definitely different.

[stratofarius]

"This whole Meister mumbo jumbo sounds too easy, Blabberbrother." Toph said, yawning. "I honestly thought that it was some complicated hand-waving and noise-making."

She grinned and slung an arm around Dollstop, bringing closer. "But as much as I enjoy being this little guy's mama- ergh- I want to get back to my normal life, to my Police Force and to my sweet, sweet earth. And I'm pretty sure you do too. So we need to make a plan and find out how do we get back. Any ideas?"

[dblade26]

"It's actually a little more complicated than that, but the basics are simple, yeah."

Dollstop seemed to calm down significantly as Toph put her arm around him, nuzzling into her side for a minute as he stopped crying. The sight of it plus Toph's slip-up about calling herself the boy's "mama" had August visibly struggling not to burst out laughing considering how much his sister had always violently denied being a maternal sort of person.

Seeing that Dollstop was apparently recovering August decided it probably wouldn't do him much good to figure out that this wasn't the Toph he was used to just as she was calming him down. "Hey Doll, since you're feeling better we're gonna need to subject you to a "special interrogation" outside. You'll probably be fine, but it's standard procedure okay?"

Dollstop looked up in surprise and just said "o-okay" as August picked him up and dropped him off outside the interrogation room, then turned his attention back to Toph.

"He'll be fine, Kun's been instructed to play with him if he feels up to it. She actually makes for an okay assistant as long as you're careful with her. Anyway, have either of us recently: Made a gypsy really angry with us, had a conversation with each other where we both talked about how much easier each others lives were, done anything that would imply you needed a lesson about how hard being a parent was or I needed a lesson about being blind or having authority, fought an angry sorcerer, made any wishes, gotten our fortunes read or done something that would alter the fabric of reality?"

Those were most of the typical reasons for something like this.

[stratofarius]

Toph shook her head as soon as Dollstop walked out. "For the record, I don't like being called mama. And stop laughing!"

Once August asked if she had done anything on a giant list, Toph shook her head, resting her feet on the table. "No, no, I haven't. Although... I don't know, the whole you learning about authority thing makes sense. Like someone did this to teach us a lesson. You to learn more about dealing with authority and m-- being a parent?! Why would I be a parent?! I don't need kids. I don't want kids. Don't be ridiculous!"

She stomped her foot and punched the air, almost as if she was going to bury August in earth just for that comment. When nothing happened, she sighed. "I miss the sweet sensation... and don't laugh, Blabberbrother. I can't turn into a sword and you can't... maybe... maybe this is only going to happen for today? Maybe once the clock hits midnight, everything will go back to normal?"

[dblade26]

August shrugged and stopped himself from laughing again "I don't know sis, you looked pretty comfortable to me, and he's still alive so alternate universe you must've done a pretty good job. But yeah, since we don't know what caused the problem, maybe a midnight solution is the best idea so that we don't complicate things any more than we need to or freak anyone out by trying to break a curse that doesn't exist."

If that failed, they would have to try something else, but why not go for the easiest path first?

---

Dollstop stepped out of the interrogation room and stared around at the busy station, wondering what else was going on around the building and how long it would take until Toph was released.

For now he just leaned against a wall and kicked at the floor.

[stratofarius]

"Good. So here's what we'll do." Toph said, standing up. "You'll wait until anything important shows up, and then you'll go and do your job as the Police Chief. Actually try to do your job, ok, Blabberbrother? I know you don't like authority and all that stuff, but try to be like me. You've seen me at work a lot of times, it should be easy."

"And I'll..." Toph said, opening her mouth, but she soon found herself not knowing what to say. "What do you do when you visit me? Do you just stand around doing nothing?"

------------------------------

Dollstop (and possibly Kun) would soon see an interesting sight: one of the police officers that were operating the phone lines starting to look extremely worried. He stood up, hurried over to the officer that had welcomed August to the station (now identified as his lieutenant, Bo Cheng) and telling him something that also made the Lieutenant seem pretty worried. He soon ran over to the interrogation room, pushing past both Dollstop and Kun and banging on the door.

"Chief! Chief! We got a problem. It's the Triple Monsoons. They've been spotted downtown!"

[dblade26]

August straightened himself up and opened the door, a cross look on his face. "Have they struck again? Or have we turned something up? It's obviously an important problem if I'm needed in the middle of an interrogation, even if I am just about done."

He walked out of the room and left Toph behind "My sister is free to go. The men who attacked her seem to have been low ranking criminals according to her testimony, so we're actually lucky to have taken them in as well. I'd suggest putting the two we found at the scene to the question as well, finding out what you can from them before they inevitably slip out of our reach."

He turned to Kun and Dollstop as he passed by them. "Kun, keep an eye on Doll and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble, whatever it takes, okay? Be good and listen to the other grownups while I'm busy."

[stratofarius]

"Uh-huh, you're not going out there by yourself, Blabberbrother." Toph said, standing up and walking towards August.

"I'm sorry, sir, but right now, we don't have time for..." Bo Cheng said, analysing Toph from head to feet. "... interruptions. The Triple Monsoons, they've been spotted on a warehouse downtown. Apparently, it used to belong to Cabbage Corp, but it has been abandoned ever since the owner of Cabbage Corp bought a new factory three years ago. We have a few officers stationed nearby, but we've ordered them to simply keep an eye on the factory, see if anyone gets in or out."

"You're doing it wrong." Toph pulled the map of Republic City's downtown from Bo Cheng's hands. "Order the officers to set up perimeters- preferably firebenders, since we seem to be dealing with waterbenders. But we'll need a squad of metalbenders if we want to invade the warehouse- preferably by the ceiling or underground." She looked at August, ignoring the glare from Bo Cheng. "Any comments, Blabberbrother?"

[dblade26]

"Seems fine to me. In fact, I have half a mind to bring you in as a consultant on the city's gang-related crime issues if this works. Begin preparations immediately, my sister and I will head to the scene to handle this personally. We can't afford any mistakes, got it?" He tried his best to sound a little bit like Toph would, but he wasn't sure if he was doing a very good job of it.

[Krautman]

Kun suddenly grabbed Dollstop's arm and led him to the interrogation room where she put him in a chair. She stood on the table and tilted the light into the young boy's eyes with a steely glare out of place on her usually smiling face.

"Right! My big brother Augie said to interrogate you, but we already know what you did so just fess up!"